Sushirrito

I love that people are constantly trying to innovate in the food world. People coming up with new twists on old ideas.  People mashing up cuisines from different parts of the world.  It's fun to discover all these new things.  I wouldn't exactly say these innovators are always so successful.  Sushirrito seems like it would be one of the more creative and delicious ideas.  Imagine giant sushi rolls as big as burritos, and you have Sushirrito.

It's caters to the lunch crowd being located in the financial district of SF.  It's more of an eat and go or take and go place.  There are no places to sit and eat and only a small area to stand and eat.  It kind of works like chipotle where you order you food and you watch them make it on a line.

The fish looked decently fresh.

As did the veggies.

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Spago @ Caesar's Palace

I remember when California Pizza Kitchen first opened up near my house when I was in high school.  It was a wildly popular restaurant back then.  It took traditional restaurant items such as salad, pizza, and pasta and transformed them into hip trendy eats with a "California" twist.  How do you define "California Cuisine"?  Wikipedia says California cuisine is "marked by an interest in 'fusion' -- integrating disparate cooking styles and ingredients."  I think BBQ chicken pizza certainly qualifies as "fusion."  Wolfgang Puck is considered one of the pioneers of "fusion" cuisine.  He is known for his Euro-Asian flare on food, as well as his smurf like qualities. 

I have long since moved beyond the novelty of "fusion" cuisine, instead preferring more authenticity and innovation than the different ways to make Asian food not taste very Asian.   I think it took me a while to get here, because only after having Spago's did I realize where I used to be with regard to my food preferences. 

Bread Basket focaccia bread, herb parmesan flatbread, rustic italian bread
The focaccia was doughy and soft.  There were bits of caramelized onions on some pieces.  I loved it.  The flatbread was also very addicting.  Light, but intensely cheesy.  You could keep munching and not realize that you just went through a whole baskets' worth.

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Break of Dawn

In an attempt to be more adventurous in the OC, my family and I tried a Vietnamese fusion restaurant in Laguna Hills for brunch.  All of those descriptors are totally atypical for the H.o.P.  We don't eat "Vietnamese fusion."  We certainly don't do brunch.  And who the heck eats in Laguna Hills?

The chef/owner of Break of Dawn has a very sad/interesting/inspiring story.   Perhaps for some, it makes the food taste better knowing how hard the chef/owner had to work to get where he is.   For others, it probably doesn't make a lick of difference.  I suppose I fall in the middle.  I admire the guy, but I wish the food was a bit better.

Kabocha Squash creamy soup, crispy lobster & shrimp roll
The soup was quite watery, not the thick heartiness I expect from anything containing squash.    As a result it was on the bland side.   It was creamy sweetness, but not the good kind.


The shrimp roll was a nice addition.  Flavors were light for any Vietnamese egg roll.  I don't think I tasted much lobster.  A good eggroll in the end, but pretty standard.

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Musha

I often don't get too many opportunities to try small portioned foods such as izakaya, yakitori, or tapas (somehow dim sum does not fall under this category) because Dumpling Man likes his food in large sizable quantities.  My sister on the other hand, Triple F (for Food, Fun, and Frivolity),  not to be confused with my sister-in-law, Triple T, loves small portioned little eats.   So we went to Musha, a very popular izakaya/fusion type place in Santa Monica.  I overslept and almost didn't go to meet my family, but I am glad I did.  This place was fantastic!

Spicy Tuna Dip with crispy rice crackers

As sisters, Triple F and I naturally share a love for many things, Tea Station Green Milk Tea, anything shrimp, men who are poor communicators, and spicy tuna!  We both agreed this dish was Mmm Mmm Good!  For once, spicy tuna was NOT served on some stinking "cruchy" rice ball, like at Katsu-Ya and many other Japanese fusion joints.  This was like eat chips and dip, but like 100x better!

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Ludo Bites @ Royal-T Cafe

This post is soooo totally delayed. I've sorta abandoned my blog as I feel like my camera takes subpar pics in those poorly lit restaurants. Fortunately these pics were taken by WonTuan's SLR. Unfortunately, I can't remember the food as well since this meal took place months ago. But I shall try...




I first heard of Ludo Lefevbre from Top Chef Masters. He was portrayed as the extremely Frenchy and arrogant chef, who ate it pretty hard with his poor rendition of a quesadilla filled with, what was it? pig ears?? Anyways, after that I began to hear of this place called Ludo Bites on a lot of food blogs. It's not a traditional restaurant, but rather a gorilla style restaurant that sets up in restaurant spaces that do not usually operate for dinner. It keeps costs low supposedly, which then get passed on to the customer. So I've been reading on the food blogs about how mindblowingly spectacular the food is @ Ludo Bites. From unique innovative creations to simply delicious food, it's really caught my attention. So when I heard it was making its second round, this time @ Royal-T Cafe, I definitely wanted in on the action.



I don't know about passing on the low costs to the customers, because things were still pricey and we felt underfed. Also, I did not feel the food was consistently spectacular. Lotsa hits and misses.




Tuna sashimi, sushi rice ice cream, soy sauce gelee, and smoked ginger --> HIT!

This was one of my favorite dishes. The sushi rice ice cream added great flavor. I wouldn't say it tasted so much like like rice, but it did have a vinegary sweetness. It was so unique. The little hunks of soy sauce gelee were great little surprises interspersed through all the goodness.






Foie gras beignet and saffron dried apricots --> MISS!

I had read good things about this dish from other bloggers. I was hoping for something like a donut with smooth savory filling. Somehow I always hope foie gras will taste like pate, since they kind of come from the same thing, liver. I love the smooth, creamy, saltiness of pate. I hate the organ taste of foie gras. Once in a while, foie gras will be prepared in such in a way that it tastes like delicious fat without that innards taste. Then, and only then, will I like it. As for pate, I'll eat it any day, any way. On to this dish, it tasted like little lobes of liver (literally you could see the lobes after you broke into it) stuffed in a too thin fried doughy exterior. The apricot sauce was too sweet. I can see how it would add something had the dish been good to begin with. In the end, OVERRATED and DISAPPOINTING.




Braised veal, udon, caramelized onions, kombu dashi, enoki mushrooms --> HIT!

This was probably my favorite dish of the night. I'm not quite sure if I know how umami tastes, but I think this dish would definitely be packed with it. The broth was out of this world flavorful. I really to eat the dish all on my own, but alas, I had to share. You can barely see it, but it came with some sesame paste on the side. I don't know how you were supposed to eat it with the dish but every single element was just DELICIOUS. When I told Ludo that this was my favorite dish, he seemed a little bit disappointed because he didn't feel it was particularly special like the tuna sashimi with sushi rice ice cream dish. Oh Ludo, so hard on yourself!


Crispy confit pork belly, thai coconut foam, plantain, burnt eggplant puree --> MISS

This was another disappointment. The pork belly was on the dry overcooked side, the coconut foam added no dimension or flavor, andthe burnt eggplant really tasted too burned.


Duck breast, orange blossom something, peanuts --> HIT

I particularly liked this dish for being a tender succulent piece of duck breast. It was probably more rare than I would have liked, but it was an intresting blend of sweetness from the orange blossoms and something that was similar to peanut butter. I guess we got too lazy to take this dish over to the lightbox for another spectacular photo.



Some other dishes that we did not get pictures for:

Celery root soup with black truffle parmesan --> MISS

Carmelized endive and grapefruit salad with gingerbread --> MISS

Squid with kimchi puree, chorizo oil, and black olive --> HIT



Fourme dambert tourte, red pear, honey balsamic
--> MISS? HIT?
This was a very interesting savory dessert, if a dessert could ever been savory. I guess I'm not sophisticated enough to appreciate cheese as a dessert. I appreciated the flakey crust, the subtle creaminess of the cheese, and subtle sweetness of the very little honey balsamic that was swirled on the plate. I was trying to mop up as much of it as I possible could to make it feel like I was really eating dessert.



Guacamole, exotic fruits, ginger ice cream --> HIT? MISS?

This was another interesting dessert because of the guacamole. No joke, it was various ice creams with a dollop of guacamole. It tasted more like a dessert than the cheese tart, so maybe thats why I ate more of this than the other dish. Sorry for the lack of picture.

We topped off the night with some time with The Chef. He came to our table to share with us some of his Frenchy charm. Boy oh boy is he HOT stuff. The accent, the tattoes, the hair, the enthusiasm for food and his patrons. He's such a sport allowing us to get a nice picture with him too! DROOOL. Even though his food that night seemed about ~50% HITS, ~50% MISSES, I would still go back to see what more interesting things he creates.



Ludo Bites @ Royal-T Cafe
8910 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA‎
(310) 559-6300‎

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Kogi Taco Truck

So I thought I was one of the last people to try Kogi, but apparently there's still tons of people who hadn't even heard of Kogi until recently. One such person is my old roomie. She too is a foodie and I remember when we first started rooming together she told me it was nice that I liked to eat cuz her previous roomie was not much of an eater. She liked to eat. I liked to eat. She liked to cook. I liked to cook. She liked to bake. I liked to bake. What a pair! Haha. I kid, but its always nice to be around people who have similar interests. More and more, my life becomes centered around food. So I find myself gravitating toward fellow foodies.

On this foodie journey, my old roomie and I planned to chase down Kogi and Marked5. Marked5 you ask? It's like japanese burgers on rice buns. That's about the extent of my knowledge. First stop Kogi. Luckily we got there just as it parked and started setting up, so the line wasn't bad at all.




The menu:


My roomate and I weren't sure of what to get and of how much to get. Especially since we planned on eating more at our 2nd stop, Marked5, we wanted to plan appropriately so as not to overeat. We got 2 tacos each. 1 beef, 1 pork for me and 1 beef, 1 tofu for old roomie. We were concerned that that might not be enough and that if we wanted more we would be stuck in a longass line. So we also got sliders to split.



I chomped on the sliders first. The flavors were immediately mouthwatering, and my first thought was like "All the hype is true! This stuff is well worth the wait!" Well-marinated beef and a perfectly complimenting veggie/salad toppings. After a while, the bun became soggy and didn't seem to compliment the filling as well. So I moved onto to the tacos.



What was in the slider was the same thing in the taco. Also delicious! I've heard complaints that it all tastes the same. Different meats that are masked in the same flavors since all are slathered in the same sauce with the same veggie toppings. Point well taken. Stuff still tastes good tho! Again after a while i got sick of the taco and just ate the filling and I began thinking to myself. Gosh this would all taste great with some rice! Haha. Maybe next time I'll sneak over my own rice and dump out the filling onto my own rice.

Mmmm, spicy pork taco!


So old roomie had read on their website that they have some special dessert, called chocolate tres leches. I was unimpressed by the appearance. It looked sooooo homemade and sorta suspicious. Wrapped in plastic in a tin foil cup. It was really good tho. Like a chocolate cake I've never had. I can't even describe what about it was different. Certainly the topping of "spiced peanut brittle with toffee, cocoa pebbles, cinnamon toast crunch" was good. You wouldn't really know there was cereal in there. There was also some creamy center with some tapioca balls which was a little weird but really didn't add or detract from the overall deliciousness. I think that makes it the tres leches, but my favorite part is the cake. And it's all yours for $4.





Mmmmmm, chocolaaaaaaaate.....


Anyways, you won't be seeing pics from Marked5 cuz those bastards up and moved from their posted/planned location. My poor friends who I was gonna meet up with even got there before I did and had to break the news that there was no such Marked5 truck at the Venice location. Instead they were over by Robertson and Olympic. I was disappointed and this caused our food truck chase to come an abrupt end. It probably was for the better since old roomie and I were pretty full from all the Kogi-ness. Ironically I did see the Marked5 truck on my way back home and was tempted to stop but I was angry they ruined my plans and didn't want to give them any business for the night. They looked pretty empty anyways. Anyways, there's always a next time!

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